Check out Peerbackers

[ysabetwordsmith]

Peerbackers is a crowdfunding hub site that does fundraising for multiple project types.  This is the first one I've seen that gives creators a choice  of what to do after the fundraiser closes:
* If the project meets its goal, funds are released to the creator.
* If the project doesn't meet its goal but can fulfill the promised rewards, it gets whatever funds were raised.
* If the project doesn't meet its goal and therefore can't fulfill promised rewards, no funds are released.

This is different because the vast majority of hub sites are all-or-nothing, like Kickstarter.  If you don't make your goal, you don't get any funds at all.  IndieGoGo and a few others will pay out partial funds, but then sometimes the donors don't get anything for their effort.  I think Peerbackers has the right idea, because some projects are all-or-nothing while others are get-as-close-as-we-can.  It's more flexible and yields better results for both creators and donors.  I'll definitely keep an eye on this site in case I decide to launch a fundraiser -- the kinds of things I have in mind would really benefit from this flexible structure.

Comments

[clare_dragonfly]

That looks really useful, thanks for sharing! I have wished for more flexibility from IndieGoGo and Kickstarter, and this sounds like exactly the compromise I was hoping for. (Not that I have any plans to use any of these sites--but it's good to know this one exists for if and when I do want to.)

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith]

I think that Peerbackers has hit on the ideal compromise between protecting backers and protecting creators. I haven't used a crowdfunding hub site for fundraising yet, but I have some nascent ideas that would suit it very well.

[ailelie]

This sounds like a good option for the ezine.

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith]

I agree, it sounds like a good fit. I really like the flexibility and all the supporting features. The only drawback I see is that it seems to have a smaller pool of regular participants than Kickstarter or IndieGoGo. But if we're going to reach outward to folks who want to read about queer women, then it probably doesn't matter much which site we send them to.